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One more thought. I like my survival chances much better for cancer or a car accident not to mention both have many elements of prevention which I exercise.

I think one of the most helpless feelings is knowing there isn't one single known thing I can do that will prevent ALS if its in the cards for me to get it. I am admittedly a bit of a control freak and like that making positive choices typically results in a positive outcome. It does make me a little crazy knowing that not one thing I do or choose not to do can prevent the inevidible. So maybe I'm fishing with the football thing but just something I wondered about.
 
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Please try not to think about ALS. I know it sounds trite, but I'll try to explain why I'm saying this.

This stupid disease took my grandfather, an aunt and a cousin (not that aunt's child). The aunt was the one I saw pass away when I was 16. During the pursuit of my diagnosed, after the 1st emg, I had genetic testing done. The test showed I didn't have the SOD1 gene. However, after emg #3 the Dr. who diagnosed me said researchers are still finding other genes that they suspect are involved in ALS and he still considered me as familial, although not in the classic sense.

What keeps me hopeful for my kids is this: the two sons of the aunt who died when I was 16 are older than me and they're both fine! No ALS. Also, that grandfather had 11 kids and I'm the 3rd ALS person after him out of all those families.

Try to think positive!
 
Asantiago,

I posted a reply that I hope will help, but it's off in moderation limbo. I hope it shows up soon and I hope it helps.
 
So maybe I'm fishing with the football thing but just something I wondered about.

Yes, you are fishing with the football thing. There have been, quite literally, hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of men who played football and never got CTE, FTD, or any form of MND, just as there are tens of thousands of women who never played football or played soccer or boxed that did develop ALS.

There are legitimate reasons to not want your son to play football. Fear of increasing his chances of developing ALS isn't one of them, especially if you are going to approve of his playing soccer. The microtraumas to the head and neck caused by "heading" the ball in soccer might be just as dangerous as the head contact in other sports. As I said before, there is a large cluster of former soccer players in Europe, specifically Italy, who currently have ALS.

Deliberately maintaining uncertainty in available information to preserve personal freedom is not the act of a "numbers" person. It's the action of a gambler.
 
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